FORGOTTEN MEMORIES
by ncsupnatfan
Summary: One brother is injured and the other is searching. Just a short one for your reading pleasure.


**A/N: This is only a short one for your read. You never know what memories will pop up by the most unexpected things. That happened yesterday and a deep sadness kept me down all day so I put my emotions into this story. I hope you enjoy and feel some of what I did. Reviews appreciated. NC**

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I shifted my weight and tried to figure out why the mattress was so hard and something hard was digging into my stomach. My mind floated in a field of nothingness, not able to latch on to anything solid as I tried to move my leaden body. I tried to pry my eyes open, but dirt and eye crude glued them shut and I couldn't force them open. Concentrating hard on moving my hand, I inched it toward my face and up to my eye moving one finger to scratch across it loosening the lashes. My eye opened enough to see small pebbles strew out in front of me. I felt a sticky wetness all down the side of my face. The more my body started to feel, the more I decided I was not in a bed but lying out in the dirt somewhere. As my senses started kicking in again, a piercing pain shot through my head almost sending me back over the edge into the abyss. I tried to draw in a short breath without choking on the dirt my lips were touching. With a tremendous effort, I rolled over onto my back and stared up at a darkening sky through the branches of the surrounding trees.

My mind couldn't pull up the memory of why I would be unconscious in a forest with a splitting headache. I tried to lick my dry, sandy lips but my mouth was so dry all I got was a mouth of sand. There was something I needed to remember but couldn't find the information in my head. I already knew if I sat up I was going to throw up all over myself, so I lay still trying to let the nausea pass as my stomach churned and the taste of sour bile rose in my throat. I swallowed hard wishing for something to drink. I felt in my jacket pockets and felt something solid and oval and pulled a small flask from it. With trembling fingers, I got the top off and tilted it toward my parted lips letting the liquid spill into my mouth. I swished it around moistening my dry mouth before turning my head to spit the sandy liquid out only to have most of it run down my chin and neck. Once I had the sand from my mouth, I let more water splash into my mouth and run down the back of my throat. The moisture was such a relief to my parched throat that I poured too much and choked myself. I rolled to my side coughing hard as I cleared my throat enough to draw in a shaky breath.

I stopped moving and just lay there trying to get the strength to push myself from the ground. My tears wet my eyes enough to help clear them and wash the dirt from my lashes. Knowing I needed to get up before darkness took over the land; I forced myself up to a sitting position and steadied myself until the dizziness went away. I gazed out at my surroundings trying to decide where I was and how to get out of here. Nothing seemed familiar and my mind wasn't remembering anything about the past twenty-four hours.

Seeing a tree close by, I rolled over and began to pull with my hands, digging into the soft dirt and push with my legs until I could touch it. After stopping long enough to catch my breath and fight off the darkness, I pushed up and leaned against the tree for support. With blurry eyes I took in my surroundings once again. I zeroed in on what looked like a trail that led downward and knew I had to get moving before all the light was gone and I was left in a world of darkness.

With my fading strength, I pushed myself up the tree and stood on wobbly legs drawing in painful, short breaths. It was an effort to make my booted feet obey as I moved one foot in front of the other in a short shuffling motion. I had only taken a couple of steps and saw a broken branch that would serve as a staff to help me balance. The rough bark bit into my hand but it didn't faze me as my only thought was another step, gotta take another step while I can still see. The terrain was uneven with loose rocks that make my footing shaky but I forced myself onward hoping this trail would lead me to help.

Gripping the branch with both hands, I slid down a small incline relieved that the trail was leveling out now and getting wider. My legs were so wobbly that I feared lifting them from the ground and slid them along the dirt path. The light around me was fading fast now and along with it my hope of rescue. The dark moved in fast engulfing me and making it almost impossible to see with my blurred vision. I never felt the warm, wet tears that slipped from my eyes knowing this might be it for me.

A far away yelling drew my head up and I could see brief flashes of light ahead of me. I heard it again, a voice calling out as I tried to move faster toward it. I tried to wet my mouth to call out and could only get a hoarse, raspy _Help_ from to past my lips before I tumbled into the abyss once again as my face met the ground in a quick rush. My mind floated away from my body as calmness came over me and I let myself go. I didn't feel the gentle hands on me that turned my body and felt up and down it for injuries. I didn't feel being placed on a stretcher and carried the rest of the way out of the woods and put in an ambulance to be taken to the hospital. I didn't feel the doctors and nurses that cleaned me up and patched my injuries.

I didn't know how much time had passed as my mind began to wake, wanting to surface once again. I moved my head slightly and could tell I wasn't lying on the hard ground anymore, that I was slightly raised and on something soft. I felt a gentle squeeze on my arm and pushed the fog away trying to make my addled brain work. With all my strength, I made my eyes open halfway to see whiteness surrounding me. I closed them back and squinted slightly when a soft voice spoke to me.

"Hey bro, it's about time you woke up. You had me worried there." the voice told me. "Doc's said you got a pretty nasty concussion. You've been out for three days. How ya feeling?" he droned on not realizing I wasn't listening to him.

I focused on the voice and opened my eyes again to look up into a concerned face. I parted my lips and tried to lick them but my mouth was dry.

"Here, doc said you could have some ice chips."

I felt a spoon being placed between my lips and several small pieces of ice slid onto my tongue. I closed my eyes and relished the coolness as it melted and wet my mouth and trickled down the back of my throat. I felt the spoon again and opened to accept more thinking nothing ever felt so good. After the second spoon, I opened my eyes again and turned my head to the person beside me opening my mouth to whisper. I saw he knew I was trying to speak and leaned closer, his hand still on my arm. I looked up into his anxious face and saw worry and concern in his eyes as I finally got three words out.

"Who are you?" I whisper in a raspy voice never breaking eye contact with him.

 **The End**


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